There is an ocean of Absolute, Pure Consciousness that is lively and self-aware. Everything exists only within this infinite ocean of Silence. Everything manifest and even unmanifest derives its value only from this infinite Silent Pure Consciousness.

When we express everything in terms of Silence, we have to remember that this silence is not “dead” silence. This Silence is alive and awake and aware. This Silence has within it the unmanifest infinite Dynamism. Hence it is dynamic, self-aware Silence. It is Silence (Pure Consciousness) that is constantly witnessing Its Own Self in an infinite self-referral loop. This means that the Absolute or the Pure Consciousness comprises of the Silent Witness, the process of Witnessing and the Witnessed or the Experiencer, the process of Experiencing and the Experienced. Our beloved Guru dev, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, would call this the “Rishi, Devata, Chhandas” loop of self-referral within Pure Consciousness which forms the “building blocks” of Pure Consciousness where “Rishi” is the infinite, Absolute Silent Witness (Krishna/Sat), “Devata” is the infinite Dynamic Potential (Shakti/Chit) and “Chhandas” is the Experience (Shiva, Pure Bliss, Ananda) arising out of the co-existence of the Infinite Silence and Infinite Dynamism.

Hence, Maharishi cognised that the Absolute is simply a self-referral loop of rishi-devata-chhandas or experiencer, process of experiencing and the experienced. This collapse of infinite Silence (Rishi/Krishna) into infinite Dynamism (Devata/Shakti) is happening at every instant and hence what is experienced in meditation or Samadhi is Shiva (chhandas) which is just beautiful Silence that is lively. What is perceived (chhandas) is the beautiful Silence (rishi) that is dynamic (devata) and aware. The bliss of the collapse of Silence (Krishna) into Dynamism (Shakti) when experienced (Shiva) is so high that it even overshadows the collapse of Silence into Dynamism. Hence a person who is in Samadhi is merely able to witness the Shiva aspect or the chhandas aspect or the Pure Bliss aspect of the Rishi-Devata-Chhandas loop. Overwhelmed by the Pure Bliss or the veiling value of Chhandas one is not able to easily experience the complete Rishi-Devata-Chhandas loop or the complete Krishna-Shakti-Shiva loop of self-referral.

The One Absolute is actually Three Absolutes and yet One. It is the same One Absolute that witnesses Its own self and this Self- awareness of the One Absolute in the form of Experiencer-Experiencing-Experienced is what is the building block of the Pure Consciousness or the One Absolute. What is important to note is that it is the same One Absolute that is witnessing Its own self hence the Witnessing One, the Witnessing process and the Witnessed One are all one and the same Absolute. Hence the One Absolute is actually Three Absolutes and yet One because they are looped into the infinite Self-referral loop of rishi-devata-chhandas when Pure Consciousness is referring to Its own self to become aware of Its own self.

Hence Maharishi has brought to light that the Absolute is just a simple, innocent, Self-referral loop between Rishi-Devata-Chhandas or Krishna-Shakti-Shiva. Nothing else is happening except for the collapse of Infinite Dynamism (Shakti) into Infinite Silence (Krishna) and vice-versa which is being experienced as the bliss of Shiva. This is how the Infinite Silence is awake and aware and infinitely Dynamic- through the loop of Sat-Chit-Ananda.

The beauty of this simple yet powerful insight provided by Maharishi into the Absolute is that as soon as you begin to cognise it, you will see this simple Truth being repeated everywhere. Wherever you will focus you will realise that a self-referral mechanism of rishi-devata-chhandas or Sat-Chit-Ananda or Krishna-Shakti-Shiva is happening where the Silent Witness is Himself getting transformed into the Dynamic Witnessing process and getting Witnessed by His own self. That is all that there really is! The Truth is actually very, very simple. The Truth is simply a Self-referral loop between Krishna-Shakti-Shiva. And because the Truth is so simple, people actually spend lifetimes analysing Truth and still cannot cognise it even though the same Truth is present even in every grain of the Creation- the same self-referral loop.

At the level of the Unmanifest or Pure Consciousness this loop is vibrating infinitely and hence creating the singularity of the three Absolute values into One, leading to Wholeness. While on the level of the relative or manifest existence this very same loop is vibrating at much lower frequencies causing a “gap” to emerge in the loop which leads to successive loss of memory of Truth about the Unity. So the only difference between the consciousness of the jiva and that of the Absolute is that in us this self-referral loop is vibrating slowly and with a gap that causes loss of memory of the Absolute. Through meditation, we simply bridge the gap and cause the loop to vibrate with its primal, infinite frequency and hence we begin to experience Unity.

Another very important insight provided by Maharishi is that the Absolute or the Brahm is the One and that One is made of memory or that One is just complete absolute memory referring back to Its own self. It is One and has memory of many and so we have One in many. So One in many is and can only be, One with the memory of many. This Absolute memory is what is represented by Krishna or Sat or Truth. This is what in Sanskrit is called the Veda. The Veda means Absolute Knowledge. The Veda is not really any book or document. The Veda cannot possibly be contained in any book or document. The Veda is simply absolute, complete and continuing knowledge of Truth.As the article proceeds, we will see how everything, even AUM, proceeds from this self-referring loop of Krishna-Shakti-Shiva or Sat-Chit-Ananda.

To understand the Truth, let us step back to a state when even the Truth was not “expressed”. There never was a time when the Truth did not “exist” but there does come a time when Truth gets first “expressed” or the Absolute memory is revived or the Krishna/Sat becomes expressed as a Witness.

At the time of Mahaprayala (complete dissolution) all expressed values get absorbed back into the preceding values until everything gets absorbed back into Krishna (Sat/Rishi/Witness). At this time there is only Absolute Memory of all values that remains or Krishna remains housing that Memory until Krishna’s Shakti (Absolute potential) quietens and collapses back into Him putting to rest the process of witnessing. Hence there is no more expressed/awake memory. There is no expressed witness (Krishna), no expressed process of witnessing (Shakti) and no expressed witnessed (Shiva). The quietening of Absolute memory leads to absence of all experiences and even the awareness lively within the Silent Absolute. The Rishi-Devata-Chhandas loop is still present, only the loop is not vibrating now as the Shakti (Devata) value is at rest within the Rishi value and hence no Chhandas value. There never is a time when the Krishna-Shakti-Shiva values are not there. It’s just that at the time of Maha-pralaya this loop is not vibrating and is at rest. We can take this stage of “Unexpressed Wholeness” to be the starting point of our discussion. This Unexpressed Wholeness is what is referred to variously as the “Great Void” or the “Shunya”. However interesting it is to note that even in the state of “Shunya” the Krishna-Shakti-Shiva values are present but only unexpressed as the Absolute memory is not active yet.

Step 2 – Soundless/motionless expression of Rishi-Devata-Chhandas

Within the loop of Rishi-Devata-Chhandas, the first to awaken is the Witness value or the Rishi or Krishna or Sat. All of its own, the eternal, absolute memory awakens. No sooner than the Witness/Krishna awakens than the process of Witnessing (Krishna’s Shakti) awakens and completes the loop by creating the experience of being awake (Experienced, Chhandas). Hence with the expression of the memory, the shakti and the experience of being awake become expressed as well. Now the Sat-Chit-Ananda is “expressed”. But it is still not vibrating. There is no vibration yet. It is a simple awakening of the loop that was in a restful state so far. It is the state of the Absolute One being now awake and aware of It’s Own Self.

Maharishi helps us understand this state is a very beautiful way. He mentions that Krishna or Sat or Purusha is the tendency towards infinite silence and Shakti or Chit or Devata is the tendency towards infinite dynamism. And these simultaneous infinite tendencies towards infinite silence and infinite dynamism have point values, that is, they are simultaneously existing at every point and being witnessed (chhandas) at every point as Shiva.

Because every point has the equal and opposite values of infinite Silence and infinite Dynamism that is why at this stage there is no motion or we can call it the stage of motionless motion. There is no expressed vibration at this point, only an infinite potential for the same.

With the One Being witnessing Its Own Self (initial expression of the Rishi-Devata-Chhandas loop), there is a natural shift to also witness the “process of witnessing” apart from witnessing its own self. There is a faint awareness of “Aham” and “Idam” or “I” and “This” even though the Aham and Idam are still bound in a singularity and are One. There is a faint line now between the infinite Silence and Infinite Dynamism. No sooner does this happen that Shakti collapses back into Krishna or the Infinite Dynamism collapses back into Infinite Silence. This stage is the most critical stage. This stage is the cause of all causes. This stage is what eventually leads to all creation and manifestation – The cause of all causes – the collapse of Infinite Dynamism into Infinite Silence. From here begins an endless cycle of Silence collapsing into Dynamism and Dynamism collapsing into Silence leading to everything that there is.

The ancient sages have, in very deep states of Samadhi, cognized the infinite Dynamism to be experienced as “RRRRR…….” And the infinite Silence to be experienced as the stopping of everything at “K” (a point value). Hence the collapse of infinite dynamism into infinite silence is the experience of “RRRRR.….K” where the infinite dynamism comes to a complete stop in the silent point value of K. This collapse of the dynamism into the silent value is the most condensed form of Pure Consciousness and the most condensed form of Pure Knowledge or Veda. Veda is absolute, pure knowledge. This state is the most original state of Pure Knowledge from where all other knowledge originates. Hence RK (pronounced as Rik or even worse Rig) is the absolute Veda (knowledge). Please notice that Veda is not any document nor any book. Veda is the state of absolute pure knowledge. And every syllable that is designated in Veda is absolute in Itself and is complete with the fullness of all knowledge. In the text books of Veda, the Rik Veda starts with Ak, Ni, Mil Le. These are the opening syllables of the Rik Veda text. However, we will soon see how even the starting syllable of the text (AK) is only an expansion of the preceding state of “RK”. Each succeeding syllable of the Veda defines the state of consciousness at that level and originates from the preceding syllable which defines the preceding state of consciousness.

So “RK” is in itself a complete Veda. This collapse of Dynamism into Silence or the collapse of Shakti into Krishna or the RK is the cause of all knowledge that there is. This is the cause of all other causes. Going back to our Rishi-devata-chhandas loop, the collapse of devata into rishi is the point of origin of all. When this happens, there is a first expansion in Consciousness. The thrill of the collapse of infinite Dynamism (Devata) into infinite Silence (Rishi) is experienced as an expansion of Consciousness (Chhandas) which is the Maha-Nada or the “Unheard Sound” and AUM is issued forth from here. At this point AUM is issued not as a sound but as a vibration- actually 3 vibrations – the vibration of “A”, the vibration of “U” and the vibration of “M”. So we once again see the rishi-devata-chhandas self-referral loop being present in the expression of the very first vibration and even the very first vibration “AUM” is a self-referral loop of rishi (A), devata (U) and chhandas (M) as we will see shortly. The “RK” is the cause of the first vibration. The very first impulse to create – the Maha-Nada or the Unheard Sound is a chhandas value (experienced value) of the collapse of Devata (Shakti or R) into Rishi (Silence, K). This self-referral state of RK is supreme and from RK proceed everything that there is – even the very first vibration/impulse. We can say that the Union of Shakti (devata) with Krishna (rishi) is witnessed by Shiva (Chhandas) and experienced by Him as the thrill of AUM. So AUM is the chhandas or the experienced value or the result of the collapse of Shakti into Krishna. From this experienced value of AUM proceeds everything else. So the experienced value (chhandas) becomes the Rishi value (originating) of the next step. Here we see the Unity of Shiva and Krishna. They are one and the same. Krishna is constantly becoming Shiva and Shiva is constantly becoming Krishna. The Experiencer (Krishna) becomes the Experienced (Shiva) and the Experienced (Shiva) is the input to the next step and so becomes the Experiencer (Krishna). This interchange between Shiva and Krishna is brought about by Shakti value or devata value or the process of experiencing. Hence the Shakti of Shiva and Krishna is the same…. That same beautiful Goddess.

Some sages have expressed that the Maha-Nada is the “bursting” of the “Bindu” or highly concentrated point formed by the collapse of dynamism into silence. So the Step 2 mentioned above which is the silent and motionless expression of the loop of rishi-devata-chhandas is the first real expression of memory and hence the expression of “Thinkables”. The Step-3 mentioned above which is the collapse of R into K or the RK is the expression of “Speakables”. In Step 2, the 3 values are expressed only in a “thinkable” way but that stage develops later with “RK” into Maha-Nada or primordial issuance of AUM where the self-referral loop is now expressed in a “speakable” way.

One interesting thing to note is that while AUM is perceived as A-U-M its issuance happens in a reverse way as M-U-A. So first is the state of “M”, then the state of “U” and then the state of “A” is expressed. Let us try and understand how.

With the “RK”, there is a collapse of infinite Dynamism to a point of Silence. Now the consciousness is in the state of a point – a very condensed point. This is referred to as a “Bindu” or dot. A “Bindu” or dot is a point of collapse. This Bindu or point of collapse leads to the experience of AUM (chhandas value of RK) in 3 stages as follows:

M - mode of the Bindu itself where diversity is starting to find its first expression- Chhandas value of RK (Shiva) now becomes the Rishi value of the next loop

U - the devata value (shakti) acts upon the input Rishi value (here it is M) for the creation of objects manifesting separate existence

A - the chhandas value here is the Infinite Silence from where will immerge shortly the “show” of all the tattavas. Here the chhandas value is Krishna.

So once again we see the interchange of Shiva and Krishna in the Krishna-Shakti-Shiva loop or the Experiencer becomes the Experienced and the Experienced becomes the input for the next stage and hence the Experiencer of the next stage. So beautifully the Unity of Shiva-Krishna is displayed in the creation!

The issuance of M-U-A above is a critical and short-lived intermediary stage after which the collapse of the last issued value of “A” into a point “K” happens. Note that values of “K” and “M” are point values or Bindus/dots. However value of “K” is a complete collapse while the value of “M” is a collapse at a point that is continuing or reverberating. “M” is not a complete stop but a continuing stop and hence completeness and absoluteness of silence is only expressed by “K”.

This short-lived intermediary stage before “A” (Infinite Silence or the last issued value in the M-U-A unfolding) collapses back into “K” (point of Silence) is called the sacred state of Kaamakala.

The three values of rishi-devata-chhandas (M-U-A) at this point get organised into a downward pointing “Kaamakalaa” triangle. The vibration that started in Maha-Nada grows into the Kaamakalaa. This stage is called the stage where “Ideation” occurs, where conception of the future creation occurs because the vibration of the “M” or Bindu value starts to find expression of diversity. The “U” vibration (or devata/shakti) gives impetus to the “M” for the creation of objects manifesting separate existence until from the infinite silence of “A” vibration the manifestation will begin.

The important point to note is that at the Kaamakala stage, the values of A-U-M are in complete balance or equilibrium. What that means is that in the rishi-devata-chhandas loop each one is still an Absolute value and in complete equilibrium. The breaking of the equilibrium between rishi-devata-chhandas leads to the expression of the gunas of sattava-rajas-tamas and this happens at the next step with the collapse of “A” to a point “K” where the last issued value of “A” becomes the input for the next self-referral loop.

Up until this point the Brahm is called “Nirguna” or without the expression of any guna (Absolute state). The gunas (sattava, rajas, tamas) are not expressed until now. Up until this point the Brahm is also called “Para” or “Para-Brahm” as the Brahm remains nirguna and in the causal plane. After this point, the stable equilibrium between rishi-devata-chhandas is destroyed with the collapse of A into K and manifestation begins with the expression of the gunas (tattavas). Rishi will possess an excessive sattava value, devata will possess an excess rajas value and chhandas will possess an excess tamas value causing the Rishi-Devata-Chhandas loop to now become “Sa-guna” (with gunas) at this point.

Let us see how that unfolds now.

Step 4- Sa-Guna Brahm or Shabd Brahm or the A-K-Tha Triangle

In Step 3 above, we saw that the collapse of infinite Dynamism (R) into infinite Silence (K) leads to the chhandas value (or the experience of) AUM. We also saw that AUM is in itself a self-referral loop between A-U-M. However, since the concentrated form of “RK” issues the AUM, the AUM originates from the dot or Bindu which is vibrating. This point of vibration is the “M” value of AUM. So first issues the “M” value, then the devata value of U and finally from the vibrating “M” comes the Silent “A” by the action of shakti “U”.

Hence so far we have seen how Dynamism (R) collapses into Silence (K) and then from this Silence (K), dynamism emerges back as “M” (as a dynamic point). From this dynamic point “M” (Bindu, dot) by the action of devata (shakti ) “U” emerges back the silence “A” !! So what is happening? Dynamism is collapsing into Silence and Silence is collapsing back into Dynamism with the assistance of shakti in a self-referral loop ! This is all that is happening all the time. This is the only Truth that is being expressed again and again. Shiva changes into Krishna and Krishna changes into Shiva with the assistance of Shakti and so proceeds the entire creation !! Let us see another example of this collapse to verify.

We see that AUM is actually issued as M-U-A. So the last issued value is “A” or Infinite Silence. This Infinite Silence now has to collapse into a point and so we have the collapse of “A” to a point “K” or the “AK” happens. Previously the “RK” happened and now the “AK”. The difference between “RK” and “AK” is that “RK” is the unfolding of Unmanifest till the unmanifest values of rishi-devata-chhandas get expressed and “AK” is the unfolding of the manifest creation where the values of rishi-devata-chhandas start to become manifest. This is because “AK” happens after the AUM has been issued where all the vibrations of creation have already been cognised in the Kaamakala stage. Now all that is left for manifestation to happen is to destroy the equilibrium in the rishi-devata-chhandas loop to enforce the show of the gunas. This equilibrium is destroyed by the collapse of infinite Silence of “A” (Krishna) to a point “K”. The “AK” is what destroys the equilibrium and initiates the show of all gunas and all tattavas and leads to manifestation. So the knowledge (veda) of “RK” gives the entire knowledge of the Unmanifest, while the knowledge (Veda) of “AK” gives the knowledge of the entire Manifest and the AUM is the bridge between the Unmanifest and the Manifest.

To prove this point, if you open any text book of Rik Veda, the very first syllable is “AK” !! This is because Rik Veda as a text book can only unfold the Manifest part as speech can only express things that unfold after the AUM is issued. Hence the Rik Veda cannot “speak” about the state of “RK” which is beyond the “speakables”. This is the reason why the ancient seers called the entire book of manifested veda as “RK” because it all emerged from “RK” and the text book of “RK” veda unfolds the divine Brahm in its manifest form with the collapse of “A” into “K” and hence the manifest Veda begins as …. “Ak, ni, mi, le …..” where AK is absolute and complete veda in itself. From the gap that proceeds AK, emerges the next self-referral loop of “NI”.

Notice now that the self-referral loop has a gap. As soon as we reach the manifest value the self-referral loop begins to have a gap (as referred to at the start of this article) and this gap keeps increasing as the manifestation becomes grosser and grosser leading to loss of the memory Absolute knowledge.

Manifestation stages: The A-K-Tha Triangle:

This self-referral loop of A-K-Tha is complete and absolute in itself. From this self-referral loop all manifestation begins. This is also called the Shabd Brahm or the Brahm with the Shabd (Word) as the speech is fully manifested here. This is also the Sa-guna Brahm as all the gunas are fully expressed here and out of balance to create another self-referral loop of Birth-Living-Dying or endless Creation-Preservation-Destruction.

However, notice that the A-K-Tha Triangle , being at the threshold of manifestation, is actually local to and within the created Universe. This self-referral loop of Vishnu-Brahma(Shakti)-Rudra is within the Universe. And this Shabd Brahm loop is the bright white light that is witnessed by people in Samadhi.

There are accounts of people floating in the brilliant white light which sometimes also appears to speak to them and guide them. That is the experience of the loop of Vishnu-Brahma-Rudra. The Yogi experiences what “Rudra” experiences and that is the interaction between Vishnu and Brahma values.

Majority of the enlightened people remain still trapped within the local Universe witnessing the Vishnu-Brahma-Rudra self-referral loop. They experience the “AK” and remain confined within the Universe and the White Light of the Shabd Brahm.

Very rarely does a jiva get the opportunity to rise above the “AK” and experience the “RK”. To experience the “Krishna-Shakti-Shiva” loop is an extreme rarity. Those who experience that lose all charm for the “AK” and for the tendency of wanting to exist at any plane within the Universe.

So if you know of an enlightened person who desires to keep coming back to the earth to “serve” other jivas then you can be sure that the particular enlightened person is stuck within the Vishnu-Brahma-Rudra loop that is local to the Universe and hence the attachment for the Universe is still not completely lost.

The “Absolute”, “Infinite” One is not in need of any “service”. There is no possible way by which a jiva could “serve” the Absolute. The desire to “serve” is an indication of some left over attachment to the Universe and hence an indication of the fact that the particular enlightened person has only experienced Samadhi into the Vishnu-Brahma-Rudra self-referral loop. He has only experienced “AK”.

The moment a jiva experiences “RK” or the Krishna-Shakti-Shiva self-referral loop all desires to even serve the Absolute will come to an end because it is only at this point that every attachment is broken. Even the desire to “serve” the Absolute is a sign of some remaining trace of impurity in the form of an attachment to the Universe.

Experience of Krishna is the Absolute experience and it is only then that all desires can come to an end. The name of “Krishna” is very important to understand. Let us analyse it briefly.

The name starts with “K”. What is “K” – ? As explained earlier in the article, “K” is the point of Absolute, Infinite Silence. What follows “K” in the name? “R” follows “K” in the name. What is “R”- ? “R” is the infinite Dynamism that issues from “K” or point of Silence. This dynamism is the Infinite Shakti of “K”. If you read the name of Krishna in Sanskrit, you will find that “R” is attached to “K” meaning that the Infinite Dynamism that issues from “K” is intimately attached to “K” and so the state of the Absolute is the point of Absolute, Infinite Silence and Absolute, infinite Dynamism denoted by “Kr”